Eight database engines in a single Rust binary. One SQL dialect. Zero network hops between vector search, graph traversal, document storage, columnar analytics, timeseries, key-value, full-text search, and multi-dimensional arrays.
Quickstart · Docs · Benchmarks · NodeDB-Lite · CLI
NodeDB replaces the combination of PostgreSQL + pgvector + Redis + Neo4j + ClickHouse + Elasticsearch with a single process. Graph queries that feed vector search, full-text ranking, and columnar aggregation execute in one engine with shared storage, shared memory, and one planner.
- One binary, not a polyglot stack. No inter-service networking, no schema drift between systems, no data synchronization pipelines. A graph query that feeds a vector search that filters by full-text relevance executes in one process.
- PostgreSQL wire protocol. Connect with
psqlor any PostgreSQL client library. Standard SQL with engine-specific extensions where SQL can't express the operation. - Edge to cloud. The same engines run embedded on phones and browsers (NodeDB-Lite, WASM) with CRDT-based offline-first sync to the server.
- Serious about performance. Thread-per-Core data plane with io_uring, SIMD-accelerated distance functions, zero-copy MessagePack transport, per-column compression (ALP, FastLanes, FSST, Gorilla). See benchmarks below.
Timeseries ingest + query benchmark — 10M rows, high-cardinality DNS telemetry (50K+ unique domain names). Single node, NVMe storage.
| Engine | Rate | Time | Memory | Disk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NodeDB | 93,450/s | 107s | 120 MB | 2,217 MB |
| TimescaleDB | 56,615/s | 177s | 963 MB | 2,802 MB |
| ClickHouse | 53,905/s | 186s | 1,035 MB | 1,647 MB |
| InfluxDB | 22,715/s | 88s (2M cap) | 1,656 MB | 982 MB |
| Query | NodeDB | ClickHouse | TimescaleDB | InfluxDB (2M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
COUNT(*) |
<1 | 1 | 423 | 13,110 |
WHERE qtype=A COUNT |
47 | 6 | 347 | 5,297 |
WHERE rcode=SERVFAIL |
41 | 6 | 334 | 1,048 |
GROUP BY qtype |
56 | 15 | 597 | 12,426 |
GROUP BY rcode |
52 | 16 | 604 | 13,183 |
GROUP BY cached+AVG |
120 | 33 | 677 | 13,652 |
GROUP BY client_ip (10K) |
141 | 157 | 660 | 14,301 |
GROUP BY qname (50K+) |
2,665 | 288 | 3,644 | 16,720 |
time_bucket 1h |
101 | 30 | 603 | -- |
time_bucket 5m+qtype |
138 | 99 | 711 | -- |
NodeDB is not a specialized timeseries database, yet it ingests 1.65x faster than TimescaleDB and 1.73x faster than ClickHouse with 8x less memory. Query latency is competitive with ClickHouse on low-cardinality aggregations and within 3-5x on high-cardinality GROUP BY. This is the tradeoff of a general-purpose engine: you get one system instead of five, with performance that stays in the same ballpark as specialized tools.
| Engine | What it replaces | Key capability |
|---|---|---|
| Vector | pgvector, Pinecone, Weaviate | HNSW with SQ8/PQ quantization, adaptive bitmap pre-filtering |
| Graph | Neo4j, Amazon Neptune | CSR adjacency, 13 algorithms, Cypher-subset MATCH, GraphRAG |
| Document | MongoDB, CouchDB | Schemaless (MessagePack + CRDT) or Strict (Binary Tuples, O(1) field access). Typeguards for gradual schema enforcement |
| Columnar | ClickHouse, DuckDB | Per-column codecs (ALP, FastLanes, FSST), predicate pushdown, HTAP bridge |
| Timeseries | TimescaleDB, InfluxDB | ILP ingest, continuous aggregation, PromQL, approximate aggregation |
| Spatial | PostGIS | R*-tree, geohash, H3, OGC predicates, hybrid spatial-vector |
| Key-Value | Redis, DynamoDB | O(1) lookups, TTL, sorted indexes, rate limiting, SQL-queryable |
| Full-Text Search | Elasticsearch | BMW BM25, 27-language support, CJK bigrams, fuzzy, hybrid vector fusion |
| Array (NDArray) | TileDB, Zarr | Multi-dimensional tiles, Z-order indexing, bitemporal support, tile-level retention |
# Docker
docker run -d \
-p 6432:6432 -p 6433:6433 -p 6480:6480 \
-v nodedb-data:/var/lib/nodedb \
farhansyah/nodedb:latest
# Cargo
cargo install nodedbRequires Linux kernel >= 5.1 (io_uring). Connect:
ndb # native CLI (connects to localhost:6433)
psql -h localhost -p 6432 # or any PostgreSQL clientCREATE COLLECTION users;
-- Standard SQL
INSERT INTO users (name, email, age) VALUES ('Alice', 'alice@example.com', 30);
-- Object literal syntax (same result)
INSERT INTO users { name: 'Bob', email: 'bob@example.com', age: 25 };
-- Batch insert
INSERT INTO users [
{ name: 'Charlie', email: 'charlie@example.com', age: 35 },
{ name: 'Dana', email: 'dana@example.com', age: 28 }
];
SELECT * FROM users WHERE age > 25;New here? Start with the Quickstart on the official documentation site: nodedb.dev/docs.
| Mode | Use case |
|---|---|
| Origin (server) | Full distributed database. Multi-Raft, io_uring, pgwire. Horizontal scaling. |
| Origin (local) | Same binary, single-node. No cluster overhead. |
| NodeDB-Lite | Embedded library for phones, browsers, desktops. CRDT sync to Origin. |
All eight engines as an embedded library. Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, iOS, and browser (WASM, experimental).
- Lite only -- local-first apps that don't need a server. Vector search, graph, FTS, documents, arrays, all in-process with sub-ms reads.
- Lite + Origin -- offline-first with CRDT sync. Writes happen locally, deltas merge to Origin when online. Multiple devices converge regardless of order.
- Same API -- the
NodeDbtrait is identical across Lite and Origin. Switch between embedded and server without changing application code.
See NodeDB-Lite for platform details and sync configuration.
Write-time validation -- Typeguards enforce types, required fields, CHECK constraints, and DEFAULT/VALUE expressions on schemaless collections. Graduate to strict schema with CONVERT COLLECTION x TO document_strict.
Bitemporal queries -- System time (audit trail) and valid time (temporal semantics) across all engines. Query data as it existed in the past, or as it was valid on a past date. GDPR-compliant tile purge on array engine.
Multi-dimensional arrays -- Scientific computing with Z-order indexed tiles, tile-level compression, and bitemporal support. Combine with vector/graph/text in fused queries via cross-engine identity.
Real-time -- CDC change streams with consumer groups (~1-5ms latency). Streaming materialized views. Durable topics. Cron scheduler. LISTEN/NOTIFY. All powered by the Event Plane.
Programmability -- Stored procedures with IF/FOR/WHILE/LOOP. User-defined functions. Triggers (async, sync, deferred). SECURITY DEFINER.
Security -- RBAC with GRANT/REVOKE. Row-level security with $auth.* context across all engines. Hash-chained audit log. Multi-tenancy with per-tenant encryption. JWKS, mTLS, API keys.
Six wire protocols -- pgwire (PostgreSQL), HTTP/REST, WebSocket, RESP (Redis), ILP (InfluxDB line protocol), native MessagePack.
ndb-- Native CLI with TUI, syntax highlighting, and tab completion. Alternative topsql.- NodeDB Studio -- GUI client for managing collections, browsing data, and monitoring. (coming soon)
- nodedb-bench -- Performance benchmarks against competing databases.
The official documentation site is nodedb.dev/docs — start with the Quickstart.
In-repo references:
- Getting Started -- Build, run, connect
- Architecture -- Three-plane execution model
- Engine Guides -- Deep dives into each engine
- Security -- Auth, RBAC, RLS, audit, multi-tenancy
- Real-Time -- CDC, pub/sub, LIVE SELECT
- NodeDB-Lite -- Embedded edge database
- AI Patterns -- RAG, GraphRAG, agent memory, feature store
For development or contributing:
git clone https://github.com/NodeDB-Lab/nodedb.git
cd nodedb
cargo build --release
cargo install cargo-nextest --locked # one-time
cargo nextest run --all-featuresNodeDB Origin is in public beta as of v0.1.0 (2026-05-01). All eight engines are feature-complete and covered by tests. The wire protocols (pgwire, HTTP, native MessagePack, RESP, ILP, WebSocket) are stable — clients written against 0.1.0 will keep working through 1.0.
v0.1.0 — Beta (today). Build new products on it. The public surface (SQL dialect, wire protocols, configuration) is stable; expect internal changes (storage layout, on-disk format, replication internals) between minor releases. Patch and minor bumps will land as needed — if something requires a 0.2, we ship a 0.2. The two months between beta and 1.0 are deliberately for real workloads to surface edge cases we can't manufacture in-house.
v1.0.0 — Production-ready (target: 2026-07-01). What 1.0 guarantees:
- API & SQL stability — semver from 1.0 onward. No breaking SQL or client-API changes within a major.
- Wire protocol stability — pgwire, HTTP, native MessagePack, RESP, ILP, WebSocket frozen.
- On-disk format stability — no breaking migrations within 1.x. Forward-compatible upgrades only.
- Cluster & Raft stability — rolling upgrades supported within 1.x; no quorum-breaking changes.
- Performance SLAs — published p50/p99 targets per engine, regression-gated in CI.
- Security audit — third-party audit completed and findings remediated before 1.0 ships.
- Storage, backup, and recovery — fully exercised under fault injection, sustained load, and crash-restart cycles.
Pre-1.0 versions may change internals between releases — those changes are critical-path work (storage, backup, security, recovery) that has to be hardened in real production conditions before we put a stability stamp on it. The wire protocol and SQL surface won't break; everything underneath is fair game until 1.0.
Note: This release track applies to NodeDB Origin (the server) only. NodeDB-Lite,
ndbCLI, and NodeDB Studio are versioned independently on their own tracks.
Want to test or experiment with NodeDB? Join our Discord — we provide full support for early adopters during the beta.
NodeDB is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1. You can use NodeDB for any commercial purpose — SaaS products, AI platforms, internal tools, self-hosted deployments, anything. The only restriction is offering NodeDB itself as a hosted database service (DBaaS) or commercial database tooling; that requires a commercial license. Converts to Apache 2.0 on 2030-01-01.